Basil and tomatoes in the Hawaii Solar Greenhouse (they even grow better in a greenhouse in Hawaii!)

This is a huge weight off us, because we'd promised it to so many people. My big excuse for taking so long is that I wanted it to be complete; it's a 101-page manual that took a month and a half to write, and 5 full sheets of CAD drawings that took me four weeks to draw (and I'm fast!).

The detailed drawings are the important part: they allow anyone with building skills to easily build a perfect greenhouse. Those of you who haven't followed our Solar Greenhouse and our back newsletters #'s 60 through 72 may be asking yourselves: "What's a Solar Greenhouse?". Here it is:

Our Solar Greenhouses are the most energy-efficient designs on the
planet for difficult weather conditions and year-round growing. They use
passive solar heating in the wintertime, plus insulation, to keep warm;
and use passive hot air venting, geothermal cooling, and evaporative coolers
in the summertime to keep cool. There are cheaper greenhouses, but they
won’t handle difficult conditions without using up a lot of expensive
energy. You pay for the greenhouse once, but you pay for the energy
forever.

We have two series: the "Farmer’s Market Greenhouse" series, with greenhouses of 550, 1,100, and 1,650 square feet in size; and the "Micro Greenhouse" series, with greenhouses of 192, 288, and 384 square feet in size.

These are second generation Aquaponic Solar Greenhouses which incorporate all the improvements we learned from our first ASG, and come complete with aquaponics system construction and operating information so you don't have to purchase separate aquaponics system manuals and courses.

These DIY Solar Greenhouse courses include the following: 101-page Greenhouse Technology and Construction Manual with photos and step-by-step construction instructions; 197-page Aquaponics Technology Manual with complete aquaponics information and materials lists for the aquaponics systems that fit in each size of greenhouse; five full sheets of CAD plans that show all the greenhouse construction details and all the aquaponics system construction details for three different sizes of greenhouses and aquaponics systems. You select the one that meets your needs.

These DIY courses ALSO include free ongoing email support for student's questions while building and operating, from Susanne and Tim.

The Farmer’s Market Greenhouse in three sizes includes plans and materials lists for all THREE of these greenhouse sizes so you can build the one that suits your needs best.

The 550 square foot greenhouse, with a footprint of 19 feet by 32 feet, holds 3,203 plants in 328 square feet of raft area and 64 square feet of sprouting table area, for a total plant density of 5.4 plants per square foot of greenhouse floor area. Plant production of 35-70 pounds of vegetables per week; fish production of 4-5 pounds per week.

The 1,100 square foot greenhouse, with a footprint of 19 feet by 64 feet, holds 6,510 plants in 672 square feet of raft area and 128 square feet of sprouting table area, for a total plant density of 5.5 plants per square foot of greenhouse floor area. Plant production of 70-150 pounds of vegetables per week; fish production of 8-10 pounds per week.

The 1,650 square foot greenhouse, with a footprint of 19 feet by 96 feet, holds 10,075 plants in 1,065 square feet of raft area and 192 square feet of sprouting table area, for a total plant density of 5.67 plants per square foot of greenhouse floor area. Plant production of 105-225 pounds of vegetables per week; fish production of 12-15 pounds per week.

Erecting the prefabbed walls for the Solar Greenhouse with a truck crane. A backhoe works just as well for lifting the walls.

We also have plans available for The Micro Greenhouse in three sizes. This package will be shipping 7-25-2012, and includes plans and materials lists for all three of these greenhouse sizes, you build the one that suits your needs the best.

The 192 square foot greenhouse, with a footprint of 12 feet by 16 feet, holds 1,369 plants in 128 square feet of raft area and 32 square feet of sprouting table area, for a total plant density of 7.13 plants per square foot of greenhouse floor area. Plant production of 12-25 pounds of vegetables per week; fish production of 1-3 pounds per week.

The 288 square foot greenhouse, with a footprint of 12 feet by 24 feet, holds 2,054 plants in 192 square feet of raft area and 48 square feet of sprouting table area, for a total plant density of 7.13 plants per square foot of greenhouse floor area. Plant production of 18-35 pounds of vegetables per week; fish production of 2-4 pounds per week.

The 384 square foot greenhouse, with a footprint of 12 feet by 32 feet, holds 2,730 plants in 256 square feet of raft area and 64 square feet of sprouting table area, for a total plant density of 7.13 plants per square foot of greenhouse floor area. Plant production of 25-50 pounds of vegetables per week; fish production of 3-6 pounds per week.

Free Farm Tours..............................................Aquaponics tour at the Friendly farm!We hold a free workshop on our farm the FIRST Saturday of every month, focused on growing food with aquaponics and permaculture. Click here for information. See you there!

If you are a school, a non-profit organization, an organization working
with the poor, Native Hawaiians, or ex-inmates, or if you are a church, we will hold a free farm tour for you anytime. You DO need to
email us first to schedule, or we might be out on errands!

The biggest problem we've found with
aquaponics is that people are looking for the magic potion that makes
$500 a day with little or no work. We tell them time and again that
business experience and training is necessary, and doing the work
oneself is necessary; but people often hear only what they want to.

Aquaponics is work, and
someone needs to do the work. It's not like having stocks and bonds
that you just receive a dividend check from (I know, that isn't working
so well now either). You need to know about business, for you can grow
great vegetables and fish and then not know how to get paid for them.

These systems do grow
great vegetables and fish with very little skill required, and half as
much labor as growing in the soil. It is work, however. You can't pay
farm workers $20/hour to do all your work and still make money yourself.
But in this economy, it is going to be a lot easier to find farm
workers than it was four years ago.

After the construction
industry on the Big Island collapsed three years ago, aquaponics is the
best alternative we've found. Our past thirty years has included stints
in the computer business, boatbuilding business, home construction,
advertising, tourism, drafting and design, heavy equipment operation,
sailmaking, cabinetwork, and furniture making. All those businesses are
at a standstill now, and we'd be in foreclosure without our aquaponics
farm.